Silver Sidelines

Well done Bill, a man after my own heart. I too had the idea of comparing with Hornby Dublo but didn't have the confidence to suggest. Cheers Ray

By 1960 there would have been some subtle changes which you may or may not accept. There are not many pictures on Flickr - try searching Clan MacDonald and separate;y 72004. There is anice view at Crewe with an early embelm labelled c 1952. There are a number of views dated 1961. One in particular from 'Peter' shows a Late Crest, no warning flashes, lamp iron still at top dead centre. However I think the cab rear support has been modified to fit the rubber engine to tender weahter shield. https://flic.kr/p/dU9vtN Cheers Ray

I thought there was some mention of a missing lamp iron. Mine was damaged as though the front of the engine had been forced against the packaging - the bit broken off was in the tray under the engine. 'Stewart' of course had had its top lanp iron lowered so not the same problem, Ray

Yes that is how my wife refers to these toys. I think part of the problem is the bright green running board. I have convinced myself it needs a coat of black - just summoning up the courage. Thanks Ray

I see that you are still waiting for someone to take up the challenge and give you an answer! I have posted a video on YouTube - R3995 has the green running boards and green tender top. My older Clan Stewart alias Clan McLeod has the etched plates and black running board. Not a lot to choose between the two of them. With no springing in the bogie or chassis they both bounce around. R3995 (Clan McDonald) seems to run faster. R2847 is perhaps showing its age. https://youtu.be/laR4IWNvsRU

Sounds about right. You should search Flickr for both '72009' and 'Clan Stewart'. Some people's dates are contradictory but black name plates were still around in 1961, in fact plenty of black around as 'Downer' says. There is a picture of 72007 and 72009 at Kingmoor with their front bogies removed -fitted with overhead warning flashes and dated July 1960. You will also need to reposition the smokebox lamp iron to the top if you are backdating Hornby's Stewart. Cheers Ray

Shared from Dave Wragg on Flickr. He has titled it a 1950s British Railways Postcard. Now what colour is the shiny paint on the firebox? Ray

Thanks Neil, David Hey in his page on Britannias comments that warning flashes were fitted to all engines by sheds between 1961 and 1962. Meaning that engines received them 'in service' rather than at a specific overhaul. https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/pages/david-heys-steam-diesel-photo-collection-90-br-britannia-class-7-1 There is also a picture of William Shakespeare, another classic example of an engine which survived for a long time with an Early Emblem.

Hello Rembrow, you might be interested in a Blog Post I wrote over summer: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/25040-a-tale-of-two-Hornby-super-detail-‘britannias’-plus-a-clan-part-2/ There is a picture of Clan Stewart in 1961 with overhead warning flashes and still with Early Emblem. There is a bit more history in the Post and in the subsequent Post where I moved the top lamp iron from its lowered position back up to the top. Good luck Ray

Thank you for posting. Clan Stewart looks very good in your pictures. Your hand rail at the back of the cab is just like mine was - it is escaping from under the cab roof. I used a tiny screw driver to break the glued joints between the rear cab supports and the cab roof so that I could tuck the handrail wire back under the roof. Cheers Ray

Many years ago 'Apollo' arrived minus a lamp iron. I reported the loss to the supplier Bourton Model Rail who in turn sourced one from Hornby. I have just fitted a replacement top iron to Stewart. I used Bluetak to position the lamp iron in the hole. I then removed the Bluetak and adjusted the postion of the lamp iron using finger nails. I should have said that I had taken the body off the chassis and I was then able to apply super glue to the hole in the back of the smokebox door. A bit time consuming but much more controlled than trying to use 'glue' from the outside. Good luck Ray

For the record Clan Stewart R3996 and Clan Buchanan R2846 - using an elderly Cannon SX110. Two different interpretations of the position of the lining on the cylinders. I would also suggest that the lining to the running board is finer on the older model - it is certainly a different colour.

A better fit - left unglued whilst I contemplate some black paint. Cheers Ray

In my Post I credited the picture to Gary Straiton (on Flickr). I found four images last night on Flickr and for each one I copied the email link for sharing. On pasting the link into RMweb I was surprised to find that the link magically changed and RMweb pulled in the image. Perhaps there is another way of posting the link? I have included the names of all the Flickr members whose pictures I have shared. When I use my own Flickr images I use HTML code which is often disabled for other people's images where they have prohibited downloading. Seems to me that there is a difference between sharing and dowloading. Regards Ray

Ooh yes Ian - and 'MacDonald' has its top lamp iron missing - the very same that I repaired this morning (lucky I had a spare left over from 70040). Cheers Ray PS I am becoming convinced that Hornby have missed off the sand boxes from 'Stewart'.

Another picture from Flickr to ponder over. 72008 with perhaps green cyinder covers. Courtesy of 'Richard' And whilst being black and white I would say this image by David Hudspeth shows very clearly green cylinders:

Looking on Flickr there are a lot of picturs of 'preserved' Oliver with a green running board. There is a picture of Clan MacGregor at Perth in the early to mid 60s but it is 'well weathered'. I could imagine it has a green footboard but you need lots of imagination. Courtesy Gary Straiton There is another picture after its 1961 overhaul which makes the cylinders look green. Courtesy David Burrell Ray

Fof those of us contemplating adding some black paint to the running board I have attached a couple of images of the reversing rod. The fitting on Clan McDonald is not fully glued and I feel sure with a little bit of 'effort' it could be persuaded out of its hole in the running board which would male the addition of some balck paint a whole lot more easy. Hornby Clan McDonald R3995 - top of running board. Hornby Clan McDonald R3995 - underside of running board. Cheers Ray

Answers on a Post Card? I have been inside 'McDonald' to refit the top lamp iron. Following the suggestion that there is an element of new tooling I was comparing R2847 with R3995/6 and note that R2847 came with a pair of sandboxes at the front. Were they particular to McLeod or should they also have been on one or more of the new models? Hornby R2847 Front Sand Boxes Secondly these new Clans come apart and go back together so much more easily than any of the previous generation of Britannias and Clans. Infact the 'fit' of the cab and chassis is so easy there feels to me to be some slack when you lift the engine off the track. Inside my model there was a little piece of sponge rubber - has something now been made too big? Rear fixing for R3995 Clan McDonald

Try this for size https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/224-Hornby-clan/&do=findComment&comment=4597159 Cheers Ray

Thanks CJI - agreed. I was looking at the plastic. Cheers Ray

Hello Mick - I have posted three pictures above. The first is a comparison of R3995 and R3996 under LED lighting. The second picture is taken on the kitchen table in daylight - again a comparison of R3995 and R3996. The third picture is a comparison of R3996 (the latest Stewart) and my own version of Stewart renamed from R2847 (Clan McLeod). I understand that colours appear appear differently according to the type of illumination. However in my opinion there is a noticeable difference between the old and new Clan models under both LED lighting and in daylight. Personnally I think the lining all along the footplate is too bright but as I have said on Flickr - by the time the model is on the layout and running round I don't think it will be as big a problem as the green top to the running plate. There was another comment made about the buffers being newly tooled. I don't know what that is about - old and new buffers all look the same to my untutored eye. (All explained now - there is a step in the shiny metal shank (or not as the case maybe). I was looking at the step in the red plastic moulding. Thank you cji). Cheers Ray

I feel I need to address those comments suggesting that my model is somehow a 'reject'. I have this morning received a replacement Clan McDonlad from a different retailer to the one that provided Clan Stewart. I have loaded some comparison pictures, one taken on the layout in artificial light and a couple taken in daylight. I would say both Stewart and McDonald have identical paint finishes which are significicantly different to the older Clan McLeod (renamed Clan Stewart). These are all still taken with my Sony DSC camera. Clan McDonald + Clan Stewart (R3995 + R3996) LED lighting Clan Stewart R3996 + Clan McDonald R3995 Daylight Clan Stewart alias Clan Mcleod + Clan Stewart Daylight

For completeness a view of Clan Stewart against Duke of Gloucester: Clan Stewart + Duke of Glouester I shall stop now and await pictures from other members. My images are taken in artificial light (LEDs) using a Sony Camera. Images in daylight with another make of camera will be different. However I doubt that changing the lighting and cameras will make all the Hornby shades of green the same. Cheers Ray

Washing up finished! Some more pictures of R3996 against a few older models. As has been said previously the footplate lining seems awful yellow and the green is certainly different to previous models. Clan Stewart R3996 + Clan Stewart alias Clan McLeod Shades of Green and Yellow Clan Stewart + City of Birmingham Clan Stewart + Black Prince Cheers Ray